Social Security

Social Security is one of the most important, beloved, and effective programs in US history. Of course, many Conservatives hate it because it doesn’t let the elderly starve to death, which makes victim blaming conservatives very happy because they can say “They didn’t work hard enough and save, so they deserve to die of starvation or homelessness.” A lifetime of service in our economy producing goods and services needed and consumed by the rest of us should not result in destitution in the years after one is unable to work any longer. Social Security is not only effective, but it is solvent and funded indefinitely through minor modifications.

There simply is not intellectual foundation a conservative can appeal to in attacking the effectiveness of Social Security. They can use Friedman’s argument or morality and similar families of attack; that it isn’t government’s place to “force” you to save or that Social Security is discriminatory toward blacks because they live fewer years. But they cannot attack Social Security on the grounds that it hasn’t worked, or that is it “going broke.” The former is simply refuted by facts, and the latter is defeated by arguments demonstrating we are solvent for many years, and indefinitely with minor modifications.

The Book “Social Security Works” is one of the most effective tools you will never need for this debate. Much of the content will come from this resource. Outside of that, some basic links, along with example arguments will shut down the elderly hating conservatives.

Social Security is discriminatory toward blacks because they don’t live as long, thus paying into a system they get less of.
This is an indictment against our healthcare system, our socio-economic system, and our policies toward education discrimination, not Social Security. If anything, it hurts the conservative more than the liberal, as it demonstrates their own destructive, cruel, and discriminatory policies are what harm minorities, not Social Security nor Liberal Policies.

We still live in a society where discrimination against minorities results in a harder time finding as good of jobs as whites, and thus attaining the same levels of economic prosperity. Poverty can result in lower life spans.

Social Security is immoral, and my money shouldn’t be stolen to give to the elderly who didn’t save.We as a society, of which like it or not, you are part of, have determined that as the richest country the world has ever known, in our position of extreme abundance, the weakness and most vulnerable among us will not be in a position to feed themselves or shelter themselves after a lifetime of service in our economy. There really is not a chart nor graph to “prove” the morality of Social Security, but if you really lay awake at night and fret over the fact that we do not let the elderly starve to death, too bad. Certainly you will try to turn the argument around to justify anything I imagine. “Too bad” if we allow rape, murder, theft, or even the policies of Kim Jong Un, right? (Conservatives often use this ploy of faulty analogy when you say “too bad” regarding a policy to help the poor that they do not like) But this parlor trick doesn’t rescue you. The mere fact that you compare the richest society in the world electing to keep their most vulnerable members from abject starvation and poverty and death to murder, rape, or dictatorship like policies reveals not merely a sick, but outright demented and truly scary perception of the Conservative mind. Taking care of the well being of the elderly cannot in any intellectually honest capacity be compared to extractive or murderous tendencies of the worst countries. It further demonstrates the culture of cruelty inside of the Conservative mind. We simply do not yet have an economy that allows everyone working in it to save enough for the rest of their life after retirement. Many people live paycheck to paycheck. They already exercise thrift. This policy addressed a problem that clearly existed and was causing great harm to many people, and has alleviated a great deal of it.